Slater I 104
Suggestibility/biological theories/psychology/Ceci/Bruck: biological influences on false testimonies of children may be due to effects of arousal and stress. In the legal context, child witnesses typically provide accounts of stressful, if not traumatic, events, and the contexts in which they provide their statements are often stressful as well. (Ceci & Bruck 1993)(1).
In the early 1990s [the time of Ceci & Bruck’s review], there were relatively few published studies on children’s suggestibility about stressful or traumatic events. This area of study has expanded considerably since the time of Ceci and Bruck’s review (e.g., see Howe, Goodman, & Cicchetti, 2008(2); Chae, Ogle, & Goodman, 2009(3)).
An overall result, also summarized by Ceci and Bruck ist, that there are significant age differences in suggestibility - a conclusion known already from the 20th century research. They acknowledged that children are not incapable of providing accurate testimony, but that children’s susceptibility to inaccuracies is relatively high when compared to that of adults.